Tuesday, September 6, 2011

History on your Wrist

To wear a charm bracelet really is like wearing history on your wrist. Since ancient times, people have carried talismans and all sorts of "lucky charms" to encourage good luck or else to ward off evil. While I don't believe in carrying an item for this reason, I do love charm bracelets simply for their charm, and for the memories they represent.

This is a charm bracelet that a group of dear friends in Colorado gave me before my family and I left Colorado for Tennessee in 2007. Each charm represents someone special to me and a special relationship that I treasure! Each charm also tells a story, and here are just a few of the stories "attached" to this bracelet...

See the Queen of Hearts card to the left? Well...when Joe and I first moved to Colorado, we met Mark & Michelle Young (and we actually lived in their basement for the first month as our rental house was being made ready). Mark & Michell loved to ski. So, off to the Rockies we went! And after long days of skiing, we'd sit around the kitchen table in the cabin at Grand Lake or Winter Park––a fire crackling in the hearth and with Suzanne Ciani playing on the CD player in the background––and we'd play cards. Specifically…Hearts. We'd each take turns trying to "run em," and rarely would we succeed. But oh, what fun we had.

The heart is from a precious friend who loves hearts. Earrings, necklaces, whatever it is...it's gotta be a heart. And when I left Colorado, I left part of my heart with her, and (as she's said) I carried part of hers here with me.

See the back of the Queen of Hearts (on the right) where it says "Dork and Dorker?" Well, while Mark & Michelle and Joe & I were in Grand Lake on one of our trips, Michelle and I had decided to stay inside by the fire and read while the boys decided to bundle up and head out for a walk in the snow. But when she and I turned around to say goodbye to our hubbies, we discovered they looked a little...strange. They resembled two huge dough boys all bundled up in their sweatshirts, ski jackets, mufflers, ski gloves, and toboggans…pulled down low over their ears. You name it, honey, and they had it on. And they looked a little...well, dorky. The movie Dumb and Dumber had just come out so... You get the drift. :)

Another sweet friend gave me the book, which represents Faith Imprints, the book club we started at our church so many years ago. What precious times we spent discussing books, and characters, and plots, and faith.

See the drum? It has "Kurt" engraved on the back (in the next picture below), and it represents how our son played the drums in the praise band on Sunday mornings. The same praise band where Joe played guitar and Kelsey and I sang. It was a family affair.

The lion represents the Lion of Judah, of course, and the relationship we all share in Christ. The butterfly was for "new beginnings," which our family was about to experience as we moved to Nashville, where we are today.

And finally, above (and below) is the Jonah and the Whale charm, which represents all the ups and downs these precious sisters and I shared "day to day" for seventeen years of our lives on this earthly journey. And that we still share through emails and phone calls. How I love these women...

Every time I wear this bracelet, I think of each of them. And as I finger each charm, I picture their beautiful smiles, and I pray for them, and I thank God for how they shaped my life––and "charmed" me––for eternity.

Do you have a charm bracelet? One you've collected charms for through the years? Or one passed down to you from your mother or grandmother? I inherited my precious mom's charm bracelet when she passed on, and I treasure it so much. I'll share pics of that on another day. Now it's your turn to share.

Do you wear a history of something––or someone––on your wrist? I'd love to hear about it. And to my Texas friends, praying for you amidst the wildfires and wishing some of this Nashville rain your way!

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